Pakistan Muslim League (N)

The Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz, also known as the Pakistan Muslim League (N) or the PML-N, is a conservative party in Pakistan that was founded in 1985 by industrialist Nawaz Sharif. The party emerged after a split with the debilitated main Pakistan Muslim League in preparation for the 1985 elections, in which the PML-N supported Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's candidacy. By the 1990s, the PML-N rivalled the Pakistan Peoples Party in elections, and from 1990 to 1993 and 1997 to 1999 the PML-N had a leading role in politics, with Sharif serving as Prime Minister on both occasions. In 1999, General Pervez Musharraf overthrew Sharif in a military coup and ruled as military dictator for nine years, but the PML-N returned as an opposition party in 2008 after Musharraf's tenure as President ended. Since 1985, the PML-N has ruled Punjab for five successive terms, with Shehbaz Sharif serving as Governor of the Punjab three times. On 5 June 2013, Sharif was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, and in 2016 the party held 26/104 senate seats, 189/342 National Assembly seats, 310/371 Punjab Assembly seats, 8/168 Sindh Assembly seats, 16/124 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly seats, 20/65 Balochistan Assembly seats, 22/33 Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly seats, and 12/49 Azad Kashmir Assembly seats.